1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation method for computing a travel route from a starting or actual location of a vehicle to an operator-defined destination and for guiding the vehicle along the calculated travel route.
2. Prior Art
The input of the destination usually occurs by giving the location name or city and street names. When the destination is located in a densely populated region, the operator of the vehicle often does not find any parking locations after reaching his or her destination and it is necessary to travel from the destination in order to search for a parking place. In order for the navigation unit to calculate the route to a predetermined parking opportunity near the destination however its exact address must be exactly known for input to the navigation unit. Those details however are usually not known to the vehicle operator in travel into a unfamiliar or foreign city.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation method for computing a travel route from a starting or actual location of a vehicle to a destination and for guiding the vehicle along the calculated travel route, which does not have the above-describe disadvantage and does take vehicle parking location availability and preferably occupancy into consideration when computing the travel route to a desired destination.
These objects, and others which will be made more apparent hereinafter, are attained in a navigation method for computing a travel route from a starting location or actual location of a vehicle to an operator-defined destination and for guiding the vehicle along the calculated travel route.
According to the invention at least one parking location is designated at the operator-defined destination and is included in the route calculation as a location to which the vehicle is conducted when the operator guides the vehicle over the calculated travel route.
The navigation method according to the invention has the advantage that after input of a navigation destination by a vehicle operator a travel route from a starting vehicle location or an actual vehicle location is calculated to a possible parking location found at the navigation destination. The number of possible parking locations at the destination are automatically determined by the navigation unit and an automatic or operator-defined selection is made. The operator does need to know the exact address or location of the parking location or locations, so that the vehicle operator is relieved of the need to input a precise destination by street name or similar additional information for the route calculations.
Preferably the route calculation takes account of the parking possibilities at the designated navigation destination considering a driver-selectable or predetermined optimization criterion that does not require further effort on the part of the operator.
Similarly it is advantageous when a list with a selection of parking possibilities found at the destination, according to a predetermined suggestion, is given for selection of a parking location. It is particularly advantageous when this list is sorted according to a predetermined or given optimization criterion. This allows the operator to make an especially rapid and reliable selection of a suitable parking possibility.
It is further of advantage when the list of selected parking possibilities is offered immediately prior to reaching the destination, since then the operator or driver can decide which of the parking locations to select immediately prior to reaching the destination.
Further it is advantageous to transmit the number of free or available parking places to the vehicle-bound navigation unit so that a selection of a suitable parking location can occur with the aid of this criterion. The time consuming travel to several parking possibilities in the area surrounding the destination can thus be avoided or at least improved.
Furthermore it is advantageous that for certain reasons the vehicle operator does not select a certain parking opportunity when it is made available. In this embodiment the route to alternative parking locations is either then calculated automatically, for example by considering one or more optimization criteria, or a list of alternative parting possibilities is presented for selection. This latter list is preferably sorted according to an optimization criterion.
Finally, it is advantageous when a chosen parking place can be reserved prior to reaching it automatically by the vehicle bound navigation unit or by the vehicle operator, by means of an interface of the navigation system. This provides obvious advantages for the operator without more.
It is of special advantage when a vehicle identification, especially its official designation or identifier, is sent to the operator of the parking area, lot or places, since then an assignment of individual parking places to the vehicle reserving them is possible.
It is of additional advantage when the estimated arrival time of the vehicle reserving the parking location is communicated to the operator of the parking locations, since the parking locations can accommodate a higher load by accordingly reserving the different parking places in this manner.